My intention was to sleep in a bit on Saturday, but I ended up getting ut of bed to help the younger kids get ready for the Vacation Bible School water day. I also drove them up to church. Then, an out of town friend showed up, so heading back to bed wasn’t going to happen.

After getting caught up, talk turned to D&D and on a whim we decided to play a bit of Keep on the Shadowfell with my son. I DMed and my son and friend each played 2 PCs.  I ran the (spoilers, FWIW) first two Kobold ambushes. I liked how it played, but was confused on a couple of rules bits (charging and burst spells). I haven’t acquired my core books yet, so I imagine they may be cleared up in there. At the end we even let my younger son “play” (he’s only 5, but almost 6) upon him return from water day.

The little ones were totally sunburned, despite my application of sunscreen before we left. They were out there a long time, though. (About 4 hours.)

I played some Carcassone Hunters and Gatherers with the little ones in the evening time. Lastly, I watched Live Free or Die Hard (not bad) and then went to bed.

I had a restless night of sleep, due to an upset stomach. I was running sound for both services at church, so I took a couple of Tums and pressed on. The nausea held on all morning through church, but once I got home I went back into my bedroom nibbled on some crackers, sipped some warm soda and watched more Arrested Development. I watched the second half of season two and started season 3. 

Then it was time for the VBS show, back up at church. That’s always big fun.

Once I returned home I went back to the bedroom to finish AD season 3.

Arrested Development is damn funny. I’m sorry I missed it the first time around. I might have even been motivated to join up with one of these “save the show” campaigns.

Some of my favorite things about the show aren’t necessarily the main thrust of the show, but more “meta” items. I love Ron Howard’s narration. I loved the episode that became a Burger King commercial. There was an episode in Season 3 that must have been written once they knew they were cancelled, or at least on the chopping block. The narration in that episode was hilarious referencing making the family more friendly and repeating “tell your friends.”

On one hand, I hope the rumored movie comes to fruition. However, it seems to me the show had a very decent wrap up.

The Sopranos:  

Yet another Studio 60 lament: IMO, it’s simply that the show is extremely well-crafted.  It weaves plot threads within an episode as well as bringing in the (albeit short) threads from previous shows.  The acting is excellent.  No other show makes me feel this way, including my most favorite.  I really wish it had more time to develop; these last two episodes have been among the best.  I suppose my ultimate wish would be for another network to pick it up, but it’s my understanding most of the cast has already moved on.
 

WoAdWriMo: basically nothing done on day 3.  I need to start some actual writing, as opposed just thinking about it.

[	Tags	|	movies, pc, tv	]
[	Current Mood	|	relaxed	]

So Encore ran a Jaws-athon this weekend and we Tivoed all 4.  Over the last couple of nights (mostly by my wife’s insistence) we watched all 4.  The original still holds up as a masterpiece.  Despite the cheesy shark toy effects, it’s a character driven thriller that’s brilliant. Jaws 2 was fairly typical but covered too much of the same ground as the first. It was really done as a teen horror flick.   Jaws 3 (3-D!!) was brutal.  It was funny seeing 3-D “set-pieces” despite the regular presentation.  The Sea World setting was kind of cool, though.  The same story was told much better as Jurassic Park.  Jaws: the Revenge was simply horrible.  It also broke continuity, which of course is probably the least of its concerns.

BTW, in case you weren’t aware, they’re polishing off the last few episodes of Studio 60 in ER’s regular slot.  The show is so outstanding.  Last Thursday’s episode was awesome and Matthew Perry (matt), Bradley Whitford (Danny) and Amanda Peet (Jordan) were all no-shows.  This was a show about the show with very little Matt-Harry and Danny-Jordan relationship baggage.  Man, I wish it had caught on.

I received some computer advice from one of the IT guys at work.  He told me how to do a verbose boot (which may or may not be possible) which may tell me where the hangup in the boot process is.  He also told me about internal hard drive to external converters which have USB connections, so I could access them through the laptop.  I assumed they (or something similar) existed, but it was nice to have it confirmed.  For the most part I’ve turned the page regarding it.  We took it apart this weekend and moved the computer desk into the garage for storage.

[	Tags	|	ai. lost, tv	]
[	Current Mood	|	contemplative	]

Yay Jordin!  I’m sure there are people out there in Tivo/DVR land who a pissed though.  AI ran 10 minutes over, and they’re usually really good about wrapping up on time.  Those who didn’t add any padding would have missed the end.  By starting watching 30 minutes late, we actually saw the last 20-25 minutes or so live, so we were kind of lucky in that regard.

On to Lost: Whoa.  Awesome episode.  Continuing my trend this TV season of actually doing those actions usually reserved as metaphor, I was literally holding my breath often during the episode.

[	Tags	|	ai, lost, movies, tv	]
[	Current Mood	|	giddy	]

But first, from last night:  I finally saw The Departed last night and I thought it was awesome.  It was on my A list for awhile, but now I’m upset I didn’t seek it out more actively before now.  I guess it deserved all those awards.  One of the best thing to me were all the items that they just “don’t do” in movies.

On to tonight:

A huge TV night, maybe the biggest of the year, in my household.  Season finales of both AI and Lost will be watched.

AI: we’re rooting for Jordin, since she’s the “hometown” girl.  I have actually liked her best for a while though.  Melinda may be the best singer, technically, but Jordin has a great personality.  The producers have got to be pleased that the final is a couple of young and attractive people.

LOST: I have no idea what’s going to happen and I can’t wait.  I read a semi-spoiler today making me even more excited.  Lost hasn’t disappointed yet, but Heroes has made me wary.  Of course, this makes me realize I pretty much knew what was going to happen on Heroes…an interesting contrast.

There’s not enough episodes left to wrap up all that’s going on.  I’m not even sure how it will wrap up.  However I’m leaning toward the…spoilers beyond.

Tony dies theory.

The show has been really serious the last few episodes, and it has been awesome.  There were a series of jawdroppers for me:

• Chris killing the Cleaver screenwriter (who’s name escapes me at the moment.)
• Tony killing Chris, and having little remorse over it.
• AJ’s suicide attempt – he was pretty serious about it too.  He was lucky he could overcome his setup once his second thoughts kicked in.

 Other random bits:

It was interesting what was revealed between Dr. Melfi and her therapist.  I wonder if that study is real or based on real research, at least.  I would love to see Phil Leotardo get beat down. 

They’ve been setting up for war, but I don’t seem them wrapping that up in two episodes.  3 weeks to the finale, since they’re skipping Memorial Day weekend.  I’m intrigued and excited.

[	Tags	|	meme, tv	]
[	Current Mood	|	amused	]

Yanked from 

heronymus_waat

Yeah, I watch (watched, in many cases) a lot of TV.  I also see a lot of kid shows.  I’ll admit that I find a few of the Disney Channel sitcoms funny.

Disclosures: Some that I marked as "positive seeing every episode" are really more like 99% positive in that I watched them so much in syndication that odds are I saw all of them. Some of the ones I marked as “owned” actually means I still have VHS recordings of them.